Kingsmills

Which ultimately is the only stat that counts.

There is no doubt that we were utterly abysmal in the first half and were very fortunate indeed to go in only the 2 goals down with our promotion hopes hanging by a thread rather than completely ended. There is also no doubt that, by and large, the St Johnstone players are more talented and skillful than ours but they cannot come close to matching us for resilience and determination. That was a Herculean effort in the second half and great credit must go the the manager for his half time substitutions and change of tactics. Who can fail to mention Reece McAlear's two stunning goals. That free kick was positively Ronaldoesque. Special mention as well for Austen Samuels who, after a sticky start, is getting better and better and has played a huge part in getting us this far in the play offs. Ordinarily, a draw would we a good result for the away team in a two legged tie but I am in no doubt at all who will be the happier group of players and coaches this evening. I rember, half a lifetime ago, a Caley team coming from 2 goals down against St Johnstone to force a replay in Perth to which they brought over 3,000 fans. It would be great if we could match those numbers while avoiding the eventual outcome. St Johnstone remain favourites to win the tie but our squad will be boosted by the return of at least 2 influential players and the confidence gained from turning the first leg around. One more huge effort required but we can still do this !

Or get a Now TV day pass for £5.99. The reliability and picture quality will be better than many of the PPVs over the season even if the commentary is worse and no less biased.

Remember, the Premiership team lost both play off legs this time last season. St Johnstone will, if anything, be feeling more anxious than we are. We need to exploit that.

The day has arrived. Let's hope that it a good one for everyone associated with the club and that we travel to Perth on Monday with some sort of advantage.

Ticket sales still look a bit disappointing given just how huge a game this is. Hopefully, a late surge and numerous walk ups tomorrow.

Maybe the missing Scotrail staff will be back from Seville by tomorrow.

Back on topic. Getting increasingly excited and increasingly nervous. Have not felt this way about a football match since the Scottish Cup final.

That has been particularly disappointing.

Over the almost 3 decades now since we were formed we have got many things right. We have often got the playing side right, we have, by and large, got the financial management right, usually with limited resources. However, in my opinion, we have never managed to get the media and communications side of things right.

Yip.

We are all disappointed most of us think it unfair but the club has embarrassed itself with that statement. Not at all professional.

Wrong but not in the least surprising.

Neither can be remotely as bad as Collum was on Friday.

Sadly, there is stll a lot of progress to make but this remains a bit step in the right direction. I have little doubt that he will get some abuse from the stands next season. It is incumbent on other fans to point it out.

The Rangers and Hearts can look after themselves. Personally, as far as football is concerned, my focus over the next week or so will be entirely on ICT.

Even a less than fully match fit Roddy Macgregor would be a great option to have on the bench.

Well done to young Jake Daniels of Blackpool for having the courage to come out as gay. Good to see the largely positive reaction. Hopefully, we have come a long way since the tragedy of Justin Fashanu. I hope that, in the longer term, the reaction will be virtually none at all. He's a professional footballer and he's gay. So what !

Great to see the reference to buses in the plural.

That is a bit harsh. Nobody, as far as I can see, is claiming that we played well in the play off matches but we did play well enough, albeit with a bit of good fortune, to get through. However, you don't beat the team that finished second, sometimes down to 8 men and frequently down to 9, without showing grit and determination. Right now, I prefer to concentrate on the positives and hope that the players and coaches are too. The time for a post mortem is if and when our promotion hopes are finally dead and that very well may not happen.

I too am cautiously hopeful and looking forward to these games with relish thanĺ any other since the cup final. However, we can't read too much into the fact that they finished second bottom. They are no world beaters and, in particular, find goals hard to come by. That said, they find themselves in that position very largely due to their abysmal league form and consequent results at the start of the season. They recruited substantially and well in January and since the end of February, once these new signings bedded in, their form has been much closer to mid table. These ties will not be easy and we will need to be close to our best over both legs but we can do this. Top tier status is within touching distance and, if we show the level of commitment we did in Arbroath, we won't be far away.

St Johnstone rested 6 players who are likely to start on Friday and the rest were instructed not to be too committed in a match which meant nothing to them for fear of injury or suspension. We can read absolutely nothing into either the result or performance.

I have a feeling that many of our players will be spending more time on the physiotherapy table than on the training pitch in the coming few days.

Unfortunately for us, now that St Johnstone are safe from automatic relegation but can't escape the play off place, they have nothing to play for in their final scheduled league match tomorrow and can virtually freewheel and rest as many players as they wish. Sharp contrast to the position we find ourselves in after yesterday.

I believe that you can purchase a NOW TV day pass for under a tenner which gives you 24 hours access to SKY Sports.